Tape dispenser



Dec. 24, 1968 J DOUGLAS ETAL 3,417,935

TAPE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 17, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ARTHUR J.DOUGLAS their ATTORNE Y5 SEYMOUR SCHECKNER Dec. 24, 1968 DOUGLAS ETAL3,417,935

TAPE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 17, 1967 2 Sheets-Shea 2 INVENTORS ARTHUR J.DOUGLAS their ATTOR NE YS Y SEYMOUR SCHECKNER United States Patent3,417,935 TAPE DISPENSER Arthur J. Douglas, Rockport, Mass., and SeymourScheckner, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors to LePages, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.,a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 661,362 6Claims. (Cl. 242-55.2)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tape dispenser formed from a single pieceof plastic material, and fabricated by initially molding an essentiallyflat form and thereafter folding th flat form into a dispenserconfiguration having a front tape-cutting edge and integral, folded sidewalls fastened together in parallel relationship to form a hub forsupporting a roll of tape to be dispensed.

Background of the invention As is known, dispensers forpressure-sensitive tapes and the like usually comprise a pair ofparallel side Walls having inwardly facing circular lip portions whichsupport the opposite inner peripheral edges of the core of a roll oftape to be dispensed. The side walls, at one end, are interconnected bymeans of an upright member terminating at its upper extremity in atape-cutting edge; while the other ends of the side walls may beinterconnected to give the dispenser added strength.

In the past, such dispensers for small diameter rolls of tape haveusually been formed from tinware comprising a fiat metal stamping havingcomplementary side wall portions interconnected by means of a shortmetal section which eventually forms a back wall for the dispenser. Theside wall portions of the stamping are bent at right angles to theintegral, back wall to form the two side walls of the dispenser; and thedispenser is completed by crimping a forward, up right wall portion tothe free edges of the two parallel side wall portions. The forward wallportion is also stamped, and its upper edge is formed into a serratedcutting edge for the tape.

While metal dispensers of the type described above are satisfactory fortheir intended purpose, they are relatively expensive to manufacture,particularly when it is remembered that they are discarded after use.Attempts have been made to form such dispensers from plastic materialwherein the two side walls are molded at right angles to a forward wallsection. This construction, however, requires a relatively expensivethree-dimensional molding technique and the resulting product is notmuch, if any, cheaper than the stamped metal tinware type. Furthermore,because of molding difficulties, prior art plastic dispensers molded asa three-dimensional object do not have a back wall portioninterconnecting the side wall portions, nor do they employ a hubextending between the side wall portions on which the roll of tape iscarried. As a result, dispensers of this type are rather flimsy inconstruction.

Summary of the invention As an overall object, the present inventionprovides a tape dispenser formed from an essentially flat plastic membercomprising a forward wall portion having a serrated cutting edge formedthereon, together with integral side walls which are bent at rightangles to the forward wall portion along junctions of reducedcross-sectional area to form the side walls of the dispenser.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tape dispenserconstruction of the type described above wherein the side wall portionsare molded with mating hub porice tions which snap together to form ahub for the roll of tape as the side wall portions are bent at rightangles to the forward wall portion along the reduced cross-sectionalarea junctions. As will be seen, this results in extremely strong,one-piece dispenser construction wherein the tape roll is supported on ahub which extends between the side wall portions rather than on lipportions formed in a metal-stamping or plastic member.

In accordance with the invention, a tape dispenser is providedcomprising an integral, essentially flat plastic molding having aforward wall portion bounded by and contiguous with side wall portionsbent at right angles to the forward wall portion to form parallel sidewalls for the tape dispenser. The junctions of the forward and side wallportions are of reduced cross-sectional area and may, for example,comprise notches, the sides of which are folded upon each other when theside Wall portions are bent at right angles to the forward wall portion.A hub portion is molded integrally with at least one of the side wallportions, and snap-action fastening means are provided on the hubportion for securing the side wall portions together in side-by-siderelationship.

In the manufacture of the dispenser, the molding is initially formed,preferably from a plastic such as polypropylene. After molding, a rollof tape to be dispensed is placed upon the hub portion and the two sidewall portions are bent at right angles to the front wall portions alongthe aforesaid reduced cross-sectional area junctions until the hubportion snaps together with the side wall portions in parallelrelationship and the roll of tape on the hub portion ready to bedispensed.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification,and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the plastic molding from whichone embodiment of the invention is formed;

FIG. 2 is an edge view of the molding shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1showing the V-shaped notched junction between the front and side wallsof the dispenser;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational View of the assembled dispenser having aroll of tape thereon;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled dispenser of FIGS. 1 and2, but without a roll of tape thereon;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the molding for another embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 7 is an edge view of the molding of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the dispenser of FIG. 7; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 comprise side elevational and edge views respectively ofanother embodiment of the invention.

With reference now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-4, theembodiment of the invention shown therein comprises a plastic molding,preferably formed from polypyropylene, having a front wall portion 10provided with a serrated tape-cutting edge 12. Integral with andcontiguous to the front wall portion 10 are side wall portions 14 and16, the two side wall portions 14 and 16 being separated from the frontwall portion 10 by means of vertically-extending notches 18 and 20.

The notch 18 is shown in detail in FIG. 3 and comprises two sides 22 and2-4 approximately at right angles to each other. As an illustrativeexample, the thickness T of the material from which the molding of FIG.1 is formed may be in the range of about 0.035 inch to 0.055 inch. Thepolypropylene must be of sufficient molecular weight such that it formsa rigid mass, and at the same time it must be of sufliciently lowmolecular weight to permit bending at the area of notch 18, for example,whereby the side wall 14 is at right angles to the front wall portionwith the two sides 22 and 24 of the notch 18 in abutment with eachother. The molecular weight should also be such as to provide widespaced teeth on cutting edge 12. If necessary, a rigid metal or plasticinsert may be employed to give a satisfactory cutting edge.

With specific reference to FIG. 2, the side wall portion 14 is providedwith a hollow boss 26 which forms the major portion of a hub upon whicha spool of tape is supported. The boss 26 is provided with a centralopening 28 into which a tapered end 30 of a plug 32 on side wall portion16 fits. In the assembly of the device, the two side wall portions 14and 16 are bent inwardly toward each other as illustrated by the dottedoutline of FIG. 2. That is, side wall portion 14 is bent about the notch18 in a counterclockwise direction; whereas side wall portion 16 is bentabout notch 20 in a clockwise direction. As the hollow boss 26 and theplug 32 approach each other in this process, the tapered end 30 on plug32 will fit into the opening 28 on boss 26. The maximum diameter of thetapered end 30 is greater than the diameter of the opening 26; howeverwith a slight amount of pressure, the tapered end 30 may be forced intothe opening 28, whereupon the edges of the opening will snap over thetapered end and into an annular notch 34 formed in the plug 32. Beforethe two side wall portions 14 and 16 are rotated inwardly toward eachother, a roll of tape is slipped over the boss 26 such that when thetapered end snaps into the opening 28, the tape will be securelysupported on the dispenser hub which now comprises the outer peripheralsurface of the boss 26 and a short cylindrical portion 36 of the plug32. The completed assembly is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, that shown in FIG.4 incorporating a roll of tape 38 wound upon a paperboard, plastic orsimilar type core 40 which rises on the hub 42 formed by the boss 26 andplug 32. While the use of heat is not required to fold the side walls ofthe dispenser in the case of polypropylene, localized heating at thepoint of bending may be required for other plastics. In this lattercase, a friction fit may be employed to lock the male and femalesections together instead of a pliable hinge and snap lock.

With reference, now, to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, another embodiment of theinvention is shown which is similar to that of FIGS. 1-4 and includes amolded frontal portion 44 having contiguous side wall portions 46 and48. As best shown in FIG. 7, the side wall portions 46 and 48 are againseparated from the frontal portion 44 by means of reducedcross-sectional area portions 50 and 52, respectively. In this case,however, the areas 50 and 52 are formed by beveling the inside cornerformed between the side wall portions 46 and 48 and portions 54 and 56of the frontal portion 44. Formed on the side wall portion 46 is a hubportion 58 having a reduced diameter section 60 with a groove formedtherein. In a similar manner, a hub portion 62 is formed on the sidewall portion 48 and is provided with a flanged portion 64 having anannular bead which snaps into the groove 60 on portion 58 when the twoside wall portions 46 and 48 are rotated toward each other.

As will be understood, the bevels 50 and 52 at the junctions of the sidewall portions 46 and 48 and the portions 54 and 56 form hinges aboutwhich the two side wall portions 46 and 48 rotate into parallelrelationship. Here, again, a roll of tape is placed on one of the hubportions 58 or 62 prior to rotation of the side wall portions towardeach other whereby a completed dispenser with a roll of tape thereon iseffected when the bead on flanged portion 64 snaps into the groove inthe reduced diameter section 60. As was the case with the embodiment ofFIGS. 1-4, a serrated cutting edge 66 is provided at the top of thefrontal portion 44 to sever lengths of tape as it is pulled from theroll.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate still another embodiment of the inventionwhich again includes a front wall portion 67 having an upper serratededge 68. Note, however, that the front wall portion 67 in this case doesnot extend to the bottom of the dispenser but only serves as a bridgebetween two contiguous side wall portions 70 and 72. Notches 74 and 76again separate the front wall portion 67 from the side wall portions 70and 72. However, in this case the notches 74 and 76 are reversed withrespect to those shown'in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4. That is, the sidewalls of the notches separate from each other rather than come togetherin abutting relationship as the two side wall portions 70 and 72 arerotated toward each other. The side wall portion 70 is formed with a hubportion 78 while side wall portion 72 is provided with a hub portion 80.Hub portion 78 is in the form of a hollow boss provided with an opening82 which receives a flanged portion 84 on the hub portion 80. The flange84 is snapped into the opening 82 to secure the two side portions 70 and72 in parallel relationship.

The present invention thus provides a means for forming a tape dispenserfrom a single, integral flat plastic molding. Although the invention hasbeen shown in connection with certain specific embodiments, it Will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes inform and arrangement of parts may be made to suit requirements withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A tape dispenser comprising an integral, essentially fiat plasticmolding having a forward wall portion bounded by and contiguous withside wall portions bent at right angles to the forward wall portion toform parallel side walls of the tape dispenser, the junctions of theforward and side wall portions comprising areas of reduced cross-sectionwhich facilitate bending of the side wall portions with respect to theforward wall portion at right angles thereto, tape roll hub portionsmolded integrally with said side wall portions, and snap-actionfastening means on said hub portions for securing together the hubportions and said side wall portions in side-by-side relationship.

2. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein said reduced cross-sectionalportions are formed by generally V-shaped notches.

3. The tape dispenser of claim 2 wherein the notches have opposing sidewalls which are folded upon each other when the side wall portions ofthe tape dispenser are bent at right angles to the forward wall portionof the tape dispenser.

4. The tape dispenser of claim 2 wherein the notches are provided withfacing sides which separate from each other as the side wall portions ofthe tape dispenser are bent at right angles to the forward wall portionof the tape dispenser.

5. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein one of said hub portions hasfemale snap-action fastening means thereon and the other hub portion hasmale snap-action fastening means thereon.

6. The tape dispenser of claim 1 wherein said side wall portions aremolded at right angles to sections of the front wall portion, thecorners between the side wall portions and said sections of the frontwall portion being beveled.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,275,408 3/ 1942 Alliss.

2,701,110 2/1955 Guyer 206-52 2,985,075 5/1961 Knutsson-Hall 2293,092,797 6/ 1963 Wood 206-52 3,127,989 4/ 1964 Travaglio 206-522,414,333 1/1947 Schieman 22566 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., PrimaryExaminer.

US. Cl. X.R.

